Written by Dyami Millarson

The possessive determiners – or possessive adjectives – in Eilauners are mynens mine, dynens yours/thine (2nd person singular), synens his, harrens hers, úddens ours, jimmens yours (2nd person plural), harrens theirs. Example sentences:

• Jò freeuw is synens. That woman is his.
• Ik bin dynent en dò biste mynent. I am yours (thine) and you are (thou art) mine.
• Dit ben is harrens. This child is hers/theirs.
• Dat gebeeuw is úddens. That building is ours.
• De femylje Boon wene yn deze striete. Dat hús is harrens. The Boon family lives in this street. That house is theirs.
• Jò wenet aik yn deze striete en dit hús is harrens. She also lives in this street and this house is hers.

Observe above that the meaning of harrens – whether it is a feminine 3rd person singular or a gender-neutral 3rd person plural – is determined by context. The meaning of harrens depends on what it refers to, and so you need context in order to know its exact meaning.

Mynens, dynens, synens, etc. can also be rendered in Eilauners with the preposition fan + personal pronoun: fan my mine, fan dy thine, fan him his, fan har hers, fan ús ours, fan jim yours, fan har theirs. Example sentences:

• Jò freeuw is fan him. That woman is his.
• Ik bin fan dy en dò biste fan my. I am yours (thine) and you are (thou art) mine.
• Dit ben is fan har. This child is hers/theirs.
• Dat gebeeuw is fan ús. That building is ours.
• De femylje Boon wene yn deze striete. Dat hús is fan har. The Boon family lives in this street. That house is theirs.
• Jò wenet aik yn deze striete en dit hús is fan har. She also lives in this street and this house is hers.